So the recap for episode 8 is finally here, a week after episode 8 aired. LOL. Sorry. I’ve been really busy with school and I really want to do better this semester than last semester so I’ve been concentrating in school (I should be anyways) than this blog, in which I apologize for again.
Since episode nine airs tomorrow or technically today (by the way, judging from the preview for episode nine, it looks super good!), I wanted to get episode 8 recapped and done with before I fall behind two episodes then soon three, four, five, and then I have no choice but to just drop the drama overall since I’ll be too behind already and too busy with school and church. So here I am sacrificing some of my time for sleep and rest to do a recap for episode 8. But I don’t have any regrets (maybe not until tomorrow morning when I can barely wake up to get ready for school) because I enjoyed episode 8 which made me realize once again why ‘Let’s Eat’ is such an amazing drama.
The episode starts out with Soo Kyung moaning on her bed about how she’s thirsty. Because of her extreme thirst, she wakes up to find out that she’s late for work…once again. So Soo Kyung rushes and hurries out of her apartment to get to work.
The 8th episode is called ‘Things That You Can See Only When You Quit.” Hmm, who could possibly be quitting and what could they be quitting? Read on to find out! 😀
Dae Young is seen hanging out in the dry cleaning shop talking to a person on the cell phone that seems like a married woman. The owner of the shop misunderstands and scolds him for talking to a married woman but Dae Young defends himself and showing his cell phone to the owner says, “It’s my mom.” Hahaha.
Dae Young explains that everyone had always been calling Daeyoung’s mother ‘Dae Young’s Mom’ so since he feels bad for his mom he calls her by her real name. After a few seconds, he ponders over it and states, “Why am I so cool?” HAHAHA. Yes Dae Young Oppa, why are you so cool?! 😀
Soo Kyung, who’s late for work, tries to catch a taxi but sadly can’t get one. So our oh so amazing Dae Young comes and rescue her just in time. He sees her on the sidewalk so he stops his car to the side of the street to talk to her for a bit. Dae Young reminds Soo Kyung about how she was drunk and recommends that she gets insurance for her own benefit and safety (haha, not again). He even calls her Soo Kyung-ah (which is informal; only used between people who are considered close to each other in which in this case, Soo Kyung doesn’t consider her and Dae Young close or comfortable with each other) which gets her offended and mad.
Dae Young volunteers to take Soo Kyung to work since there aren’t any available taxis so she accepts his offer and gets in the car with him. (Yay for Dae Young!).
Inside of the car, Soo Kyung speaks rudely to Dae Young which makes him hurt, considering how helpful he’s always been to Soo Kyung. He was there to clean her mess up when she vomited, he took her to the hospital when she got sick, he gave her a piggy back ride when she was drunk, and when she’s late to work, he gives her a ride. After Soo Kyung gives in and compliments Dae Young on his kindness (she basically forced herself, haha), he parks his car on the side of the street for a bit. Once the car is stopped, he starts to lean towards Soo Kyung which freaks her out because the space between them is getting smaller and smaller. But Dae Young is a troll because all he wanted to get was a pain relief patch and have Soo Kyung put it on his back since carrying her on his back hurted his back pretty bad.
While preparing the patch, Dae Young calls Soo Kyung heavy (aka fat) which gets Soo Kyung mad so she threatens to punch him in the face. Haha, now Dae Young, on that part you were going a bit too far.
(THAT BACK THOUGH! OMG. *gasp*)
Meanwhile, Lawyer Kim is right across the street from the attorney firm ready to cross the street to get to the office when he sees Dae Young drop Soo Kyung off to work. He then assumes that Soo Kyung and Dae Young had slept together since he recalled the night before where Dae Young was carrying Soo Kyung on his back. Gaahhhh, no.
Things get worse at the attorney firm office when Soo Kyung’s two co-workers, Gyu-sik and Lawyer Oh, also assume that Soo Kyung was with a man the night before since she is still wearing the same clothes from the day before. Soo Kyung defends herself quickly and then is scolded again by Lawyer Kim who comes entering the office yelling at Soo Kyung like usual. He goes off on a rant and his amazing speech that is the same thing over and over again before marching off into his office. Soo Kyung hopes that his blind date will go well so that he can get rid of his ‘bachelor hysteria’ (aka not be such an ass). It’s only been 5 minutes since she’s gotten to work and things continue to get worse. Soo Kyung’s candy bars gets taken away by Lawyer Kim because he thinks they’re the reasons for all the bugs that have appeared in the office so he confiscates all of them and forbids anyone to eat in the office.
Back at the apartment, Jin Yi and Dae Young meet outside in the hallway. She offers him the carton of milk even though it isn’t his turn (remember how they’re a food group and have decided to do grocery shopping together to save money?). She then brings up the topic about her other milk cartons that she’s waiting to expire so she can throw it out which then leads to Dae Young volunteering to make a dish out of Jin Yi’s leftover ingredients that are close to expiring – but aren’t exactly yet.
In Jin Yi’s apartment, she can only watch him afar in awe and admirement. She compliments him saying, “Looking at you cooking is doojoon, doojoon.” LOLOL. Is that a play of words on ‘dugeun dugeun’? (I hope so). But it’s just funny how he’s like “Doojoon? Doojoon?” questioning his own name (if you didn’t know, Dae Young is played by BEAST’s Yoon Doojoon). Hahaha. That part is too funny. Jin Yi volunteers to put the apron on Doojoon Dae Young and while doing so, secretly goes in for a hug but he catches her trick and pushes her away. She states that she has always wanted to do that since it’s a dreams of her. Haha, too cute^^
Dae Young finishes cooking his famous dish ‘Toowoomba Spaghetti’ which looks pretty good in all honesty. He then plays some music on Jin Yi’s cell phone and listens to it, feeling proud of himself for cooking such an amazing dish while Jin Yi takes pictures of her with the dish.
At the attorney office, you have a special cameo by Lee Sang-woo who had come to visit Lawyer Kim because he was going through a divorce. He goes off on a little rant about his wife which scares Lawyer Kim out a bit. Lol.
Outside of Lawyer Kim’s office, Gyu-sik points out that Soo Kyung’s neighborhood hasn’t been having any ‘Don’t Ask’ assault incidents lately which Soo Kyung agrees on. That’s when Lawyer Kim and Lee Sang-woo exits out of his office to which Lee Sang-woo returns home. All three co-workers talk about Lee Sang-woo’s wife who had an affair with another man and requested to get a divorce which leads Lawyer Kim to talk smack on Soo Kyung. He heard that she was a very popular student back in college so she must have dated many guys and probably couldn’t have settled down with just one man. That’s when Soo Kyung gets fed up with Lawyer Kim and grabs all of her resignation letters in her drawer and gives it to Lawyer Kim (Yes, now that’s what I like to see!). For each resignation letter, she states one of the laws and articles that Lawyer Kim broke (there were 4 letters overall. Haha).
Gyu-sik finds out that Soo Kyung is resigning which makes him surprised so he runs into Lawyer Kim’s office asking if that’s the truth. Lawyer Kim reads one of the many resignation letters which causes him to recall back in the early days when Soo Kyung dressed in very pretty clothes to work but when Lawyer Kim found out that she was only dressing nicely because she had a blind date later on in the day, he prohibited her from dressing so prettily from that day on. The next resignation letter talks about how Lawyer Kim keeps making Soo Kyung work over time, such as the time when she had to go with him to the department store to pick out a suit. He gets mad and throws away the resignation letter.
Soo Kyung gets on the bus to head back home and meanwhile receives a call from Lawyer Oh. But Soo Kyung doesn’t pick up and instead sits on the bus quietly. A couple of minutes later and we see Soo Kyung starting to cry and shed some tears.
(such beautiful cinematography during this scene).
Gyu-sik and Lawyer Oh tries to persuade Lawyer Kim to take Soo Kyung back in but he refuses too since she herself wasn’t always a responsible worker.
Jin Yi has done all of her laundry by herself so she wants to commemorate the great news with her mother but has to stop because she is reminded that it’s dawn in the United States which is where her mother is residing (it’s okay Jin Yi, I’m proud of you).
Soo Kyung exits out of the bus when she suddenly gets a phone call…from her mom. It turns out that her mom is trying to get into her apartment but couldn’t which is why she phoned Soo Kyung.
Soo Kyung’s mom needed to attend a marriage over the weekend so she came for a visit. She enters Soo Kyung’s apartment once she’s given the pass code and we soon find out that she’s allergic to dogs so Jin Yi has to take care of Barassi.
It’s lunch time so Soo Kyung goes to a restaurant to eat by herself. She realizes that even though she’s eating alone, she’s able to eat really well (maybe that’s because the food is delicious. Haha).
Soo Kyung gets another phone call from her mom who whines about her messy refrigerator. Soo Kyung gets irritated and tells her to not bother her. That’s when she meets Dae Young who has also come to the same restaurant while Soo Kyung is still there.
Dae Young asks why Soo Kyung is there drinking beer since he assumes she’s just taking a lunch break from work when Soo Kyung reveals to him that she quit her job. They then move to a café where Dae Young compliments Soo Kyung for being so courageous and cool for resigning and showing her boss what’s up. Soo Kyung reveals that she actually didn’t plan to resign; she just wrote her letters out of stress and frustration. Dae Young advises that she just go home and get herself some rest for all those years she’s been working continuously. But Soo Kyung is reminded once again that her mother is home so it’s pretty much impossible to get some sleep and relaxation. Dae Young implies that he would spend some time with Soo Kyung but it’s a bit unfortunate because he has to meet with a client at that hour. Soo Kyung just brushes off his idea about staying with him and will make herself feel better by reading a book at a bookstore. But Dae Young doesn’t believe in Soo Kyung easily since he knows she’s obviously stressed out and tells her to follow him…after he wipes away some chocolate that she got on her mouth from the little dessert that she had been eating while Dae Young was talking the whole time to her. (Me: AAHHHHHH!).
It turns out this place Dae Young wanted Soo Kyung to go to was none other than the karaoke bar! Ooh how fun! Dae Young pays for the both of them and together they enter a room to relieve their stress. (Dae Young, what happened to you having to meet a client eh? Keke).
At the attorney office, Gyu-sik gets caught up doing Soo Kyung’s job as the Chief Secretary but gets yelled at in the end by Lawyer Kim because they keep messing around.
At the one-person karaoke bar, Soo Kyung is seen singing to Crayon Pop’s ‘Bar Bar Bar’ LOL. She even has on the helmet and everything (which is what the girl group wears as part of their costume design; too funny and cute) followed by EXO’s ‘Growl’ (Ohhhh yeeaahhhhhh baby). But she has to stop because Lawyer Oh called Soo Kyung to ask her what she should do with Soo Kyung’s stuff that is still at the attorney office. Soo Kyung tells Lawyer Oh to just throw it all away since they’re nothing significant. After the conversation ends, Soo Kyung tries to hold herself together so that she won’t cry again and break down like how she did on the bus. She returns home and is welcomed to a nice warm meal made by her mother (awww, how adorable).
Gyu-sik informs Kyung Mi that Soo Kyung has quit her job which makes Kyung Mi rage in disbelief so she tries to contact Soo Kyung to get some answers. But Gyu-sik stops her because he believes Soo Kyung just wants some time to be alone. Because of the many resignation letters she’s kept inside of her drawers, Gyu-sik thinks Soo Kyung had been waiting a long time ago to give those letters to Lawyer Kim but just didn’t get the chance to. That’s when he goes off on a meaningful speech to his wife saying, “Honestly, office workers, salary men, everyone feels the same way about wanting to turn in their resignation letters. But they can’t turn it in when they think of their wives and children. But for Chief Lee, she could turn in her resignation letter because she lived alone. I envy her.” Words of wisdom spoken by Gyu-sik.
Gyu-sik tries to tell Kyung-mi that working is hard (she doesn’t work – she’s a stay home mom) so Kyung Mi gives her husband some words of comfort as she knows that it’s hard for him but encourages him to pull through and to not give up…because their family is depending on him (ugh, my heart at this moment is just being ripped apart). Kyung Mi comes to realizing that since she went to the same college as Soo Kyung and also graduated with the same major, she could take her job and become Gyu-sik’s ‘office wife.’ Gyu-sik doesn’t seem to be so approving of that as he stutters the words ‘office wife.’ Hahaha. He says that he’ll ask his boss in which we all know he probably never will.
Back at Soo Kyung’s apartment, she suggests moving in with her mother but her mother doesn’t approve. After denying Soo Kyung’s request, she takes out an envelope which has an application to a marriage consulting firm inside. She stresses that Soo Kyung should get married or she’s going to live by herself for the rest of her life. Soo Kyung states that she will live in a town by herself but her mom continues to rant about how she should just get married as soon as possible. Haha. All these people telling Soo Kyung to get married – first Gyu-sik, now her mom. When really will our Soo Kyung get married?
The episode ends with Soo Kyung and her mother getting into an argument about the application to the marriage consulting firm. Haha. Too funny and cute.
Epilogue:
– A week back –
We see Dae Young at the same karaoke bar that Soo Kyung went to in this episode. He is devastated over losing the $100,000 so he came to the karaoke bar to get rid of his stress. Dae Young enters the one-person karaoke bar and chooses to sing ‘Fiction’ by B2ST (AHHHH NO WAY!!!), AKA the best song in the whole wide world. He even starts to dance to the song (Penguin dance!) and just when you thought the scene couldn’t get any weirder or lamer, Dae Young switches the lyrics to “I’ll hold onto you $100,000. I’ll let you go, $100,000” (the original lyrics are: I will hold on to you, I won’t let you go) so he’s dedicating the song to his $100,000. Haha. Hilarious. When Dae Young finishes the song, he groans in anger, “My $100,000!” that he sadly and unfortunately lost. It’s okay Dae Young Oppa, you have me.
My Thoughts:
I really really really liked this episode. I don’t know where to start! Haha. I’m too excited right now.
I guess I can dissect Soo Kyung’s situation with her whole resignation and her having the courage to quit her job. It’s obvious that Soo Kyung’s resignation and departure from her workplace of ten years (I believe it’s ten years) has made a huge impact on her and is taking a bigger toll on Soo Kyung than she had originally expected. And you know, in all honesty, it was nice to see in this episode just how much she struggled and the aftereffects that set in once Soo Kyung realized that she just quit her job of ten years. She didn’t think anything big was going to change when she resigned but when she did, she immediately felt weird and different for obvious reasons. She’s not going to do the same thing she’s been doing for the past decade so going to the attorney office early in the morning (and some times later than others) and eating out for lunch with her co-workers are all past habits that she’s going to have to let go of and forget. Soo Kyung desperately wanted to quit so much because of her aggravating boss, but once she does leave, she realizes that it’s harder for her to accept things and the situation she was in than she originally thought it was. I think it sometimes left her thinking that maybe things were better left unchanged. Soo Kyung will now have to change her daily routine and plan a new schedule now that she’s quit her job – for standing up for herself. Because Soo Kyung couldn’t put up with anymore of the BS that her boss was giving her, she gathered all her courage and gave him not only one but all four resignation letters and that’s what I loved about her. Now that is a kind of character that I respect and like – when someone stands up for themselves.
But the idea that Gyu-sik brought up about how many people want to give up because working is so hard and their salary doesn’t provide much for them and their family is an interesting take and a very reasonable explanation as to why Gyu-sik hasn’t given up yet (and I hope he doesn’t). That scene in particular where he explains to his wife that it’s hard for him was very touching because he was voicing his opinion and thoughts and opening up to his wife what he thinks about working (and a part of me wants to say that he was trying to get his wife’s approval so that he could quit his job too just like how Soo Kyung did…which is why he said that he envied her once she quit) and the daily struggles that he has to endure just to provide for his family. This goes for many people and parents, I know for sure my mother is and has gone through something similar like this before which is why I love her so much and give her my utmost respect. She works hard even though she is fully aware that she is being taken advantage of but she doesn’t let that bother her and doesn’t quit. Why? Because she is reminded that she has seven other family members to take care of and provide for – which is why Gyu-sik also never gives up no matter how much he wants to. It all comes down to family in the end.
Jin Yi reminds me a lot of myself or what I will be in the future when I venture off into college and have to live independently by myself. I have done my own laundry by myself a few times before (yay!) but I think learning to spend less on things not as necessary in life and managing your time wisely while preparing for your future are things that Jin Yi is going through that I eventually will have to face and experience. She still remains a favorite character of mines 🙂
Soo Kyung’s mom appears for the first time in this episode and I love the relationship that Soo Kyung has with her mom. When she came home to her mom’s food, I thought about my mom and how on the days when my mom isn’t working, she always cooks for me and my siblings and how I always look forward to the delicious food that my mom cooks for us once I return from school. I think this is why I love ‘Let’s Eat’ so much; it’s so relatable on so many terms. I mean, I haven’t experienced this yet (and hopefully won’t) because I don’t have a job yet, but there are many people out there who have to go to work and have to put up with their horrible bosses even though they might hate them way deep down inside of them (like Soo Kyung). There are people you meet in your lives that you can probably open up to easily or slowly like to get to know (Dae Young and Jin Yi) but nonetheless, you’re just happy to have companions because I think anybody can agree that having companionship is better than dealing with loneliness right? It’s not everyday that we go out for lunch and eat very yummy meals and dishes or hear about assault incidents happening in our very own neighborhood but it’s not like those things aren’t rare either. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m an emotional and sensitive person so when I watch this drama, I learn to appreciate all the little things about it that the drama itself might not emphasize much on (like Jin Yi doing the laundry which I find incredible since she came from a spoiled family – it’s actually a great accomplishment that gets Jin Yi one step closer to feeling more comfortable while living alone) because one day, I will be in their shoes and probably go through what they have been through.
Also, I loved the karaoke scene even though it was very short. What’s a Korean drama without a karaoke scene right? (even though I do have to say there aren’t as many karaoke scenes in dramas as before which makes me absolutely sad because karaoke scenes are just the high-lights in a drama, don’t ya think?). I really liked Dae Young’s solo karaoke scene because you guys already know that I am the biggest B2ST / BEAST fan in the world so seeing Dae Young not only sing ‘Fiction’ – their best song up to date – but also switch the lyrics to express himself was hilarious. It was like Doojoon and Dae Young mashed into one person: Doojoon singing to ‘Fiction’ as a B2ST member and even doing the dance while Dae Young appears when the lyrics talk about the $100,000. Haha, I’m happy and relieved that ‘Let’s Eat’ still provides those little bits of comedy and laughter. They aren’t awkward and aren’t forced either. I appreciate them because they fit so smoothly and doesn’t seem out of place. Thinking about it, I also thought it was kind and nice of Dae Young to introduce the karaoke place to Soo Kyung so that she can get rid of all of her stress and concerns as well after he was going through problems himself. Such a nice thing to indeed (: It just shows that he cares about her and that most importantly, he considers Soo Kyung a friend 😀
MaryMeKpop 